White House: Wanted ‘to Get Caught Trying’ with Axed Gaza Pier, It’s ‘Very Susceptible’ to Weather

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby discussed the plans to permanently remove the Gaza aid pier and said that “we want to get caught trying. And in this case, we tried the pier, the temporary pier, we said from the beginning that that wasn’t exactly what this pier was designed to do over a long period of time, and that it would be a hard, complicated task. It proved to be that. It’s also very susceptible to the weather.”

Kirby said, “[T]he United States has been leading the world in trying to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. And we’ve been trying all different ways to do it. In fact, we want to get caught trying. And in this case, we tried the pier, the temporary pier, we said from the beginning that that wasn’t exactly what this pier was designed to do over a long period of time, and that it would be a hard, complicated task. It proved to be that. It’s also very susceptible to the weather. But we’ve been conducting airdrops. We’ve been working with the Israelis through diplomacy to open up more crossings and get more trucks in, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

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